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Novels set in Greece

Before travelling, I like to read novels that are set in our destination to give a broader understanding of life and history of the place. For our upcoming trip to Greece, do you have any suggestions for historical novels, or anything else that really gives a feel for the place (apart from Zorba the Greek).

It is one of the five surviving Novels of Ancient Greece and probably the best. Goethe called Daphnis and Chloe 'a masterpiece ... in which Understanding, Art, and Taste appear at their highest point. The story is set on the Greek Island of Lesbos. Daphnis and Chloe is the story of a boy (Daphnis) and a girl (Chloe), each of whom is exposed at birth along with some identifying tokens. A goatherd named Lamon discovers Daphnis, and a shepherd called Dryas finds Chloe. Each decides to raise the child he finds as his own. Daphnis and Chloe grow up together, herding the flocks for their foster parents. They fall in love but, being naive, do not understand what is happening to them. Philetas, a wise old cowherd, explains to them what love is and tells them that the only cure is "kissing." They do this. Eventually, Lycaenion, a woman from the city, educates Daphnis in love-making. Daphnis, however, decides not to test his newly acquired skill on Chloe, because Lycaenion tells Daphnis that Chloe "will scream and cry and lie bleeding heavily [as if murdered]." Throughout the book, Chloe is courted by suitors, two of whom (Dorcon and Lampis) attempt with varying degrees of success to abduct her. She is also carried off by raiders from a nearby city and saved by the intervention of the god Pan. Meanwhile, Daphnis falls into a pit, gets beaten up, is abducted by pirates, and is very nearly raped. In the end, Daphnis and Chloe are recognized by their birth parents, get married, and live out their lives in the country.

Mary Renault, of course. Start with The Last of the Wine -- Athens during the Peloponnesian War or The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea -- the myth of Theseus
There are quite a few more from her if you like her style.

Mary Renault, of course. Start with The Last of the Wine -- Athens during the Peloponnesian War or The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea -- the myth of Theseus
There are quite a few more from her if you like her style.

The Island by Victoria Hislop
It's all greek to me by Jon Mole
The Summer of my Greek Taverna by Tom Stone
The Labyrinth by Panos Karnezis

I do not know if you say apart Zorba the Greek because you have read it or because it is a common suggestion... The book has a completely different feeling than the moviw on my opinion. Kazantzakis was not only a great author, he was mainly a philosopher and many of his views are bleded with the book's plot.
Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis is an other great read, especially if you are familiar with Crete's history.

There are old and somehow more difficult reads but still interesting and insightfull of a different ear, such as Henry Miller's The Colossus of Maroussi, or Lawrence Durrell's and Patrick Leigh Fermor's various memoirs/books.

Then you have the old time classic Iliad and Odyssey and all kind of ancient stuff of course...
List never ends...

The Thread, another by Victoria Hislop. Follows a young girl made a refugee after WW1 by the ethnic cleansing of Greeks from Turkey (and vice versa). Thessaloniki's difficulties during WW2 with Nazi occupation, deportation of the Jewish residents, and other historical events. The civil war after WW2. Told from the Greek point of view, but with a pretty successful attempt at being evenhanded, in my opinion.

"Portrait of Greece" -- Nicholas Gage. Widely available in libraries. Re Modern Greece :culture, traditions. temperament. Pub. 1979; 1995 reissue, main change is more pix.A VERY thoughtful chapter on the role of religion (ancient & christian) in Greece's history & lives of ordinary people. Amazon has it in used paperback

"Eurydice Street"– Sofka Sinovieff My Modern-Greece Favorite! – a Memoir on life in modern middle-class Greece. Author, from London (White Russian father/Greek mother). met a Greek diplomat abroad; they moved from Europe to Athens suburb when their girls were 8 & 10. Absorbing, amusing, touching story of their daughters ‘becoming Greek,” which in the process shares countless Greek customs, habits, outlooks, both from the near-past, ancient past and today. Paperback, via Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

and also modern...
"The Priest Fainted" -- Catherine T. Davidson ( Title is name of an eggplant dish!). Novel (really a memoir) -- NY Times Notable book --(review quote) "a Greek-American woman's modern-day odyssey through Greece, The Priest Fainted combines irreverent retellings of Greek myth, sexual revelry, and mouthwatering descriptions of traditional food with a quest to discover the links between the past and the present." Available in Paperback.

Thank you all for great suggestions. Eleni is already on my Kindle, as is his daughter's (Eleni Gage) book called North of Ithaca. This is the story of the daughter Eleni's return to her father's village. I also found on my bookshelf a book called The Olive Grove - travels to Greece by Katherine Kazilos...so I have somewhere to start. I will check out the other suggestions as I go...Many thanks again.

The Two Faces Of January by Patricia Highsmith is an excellent little thriller. Legantly contructed and yet as tough and taut as her very best novels. It's set in Athens, Crete and also Paris.
Highly recommended - and easily digestible whilst en vacances.

Thanks Gretchen. I had no idea Never on Sunday was from a movie set in Greece. It was my father's favourite song back in the 60s and brought back many memories just listening to it now on youtube. And you were right. I already can't get the song out of my head!

In addition to My Brother Michael (Delphi), Mary Stewart also wrote two additional novels (mysteries) set in Greece: The Moon Spinners (Corfu) and This Rough Magic (Crete). Helen MacInnes (also a mystery writer) has two books: Decision at Delphi and The Double Image (Mykonos).

Even though these books were written years ago, my granddaughter who is 18 loved reading them.

I have just finished reading Eleni and must say another thank you to all who recommended it. I found it absolutely fascinating and couldn't put it down. Now I have to decide what comes next, after so many great suggestions...

I always consult Book Lust to Go by Nancy Pearl for every trip. She is a librarian who wrote this book which recommends reading for 120 destinations. She lists fiction and nonfiction and gives a small description of the title. Great fun for travel reading!

"Athens - The Truth: Searching for Manos, Just Before the Bubble Burst" by David Cade.

Not a novel but it often has the movement of one. I found it gripping. The author searches Athens for the music of Theodorakis and Hadjidakis but discovers a great deal more. There are fascinating insights in every chapter. Very topical, sometimes controversial, very up-to-date, and probably closest to Patrica Storace and Leigh Fermor. And don't judge it by its very classical cover! The contents are often otherwise! The best book I've read on Athens to date.

Ela - A Greek affair: Author: Michael Saunders and his wife Pauline at their home in Lower Afrata, Crete, 2000. They finally realised their dream and took up permanent residence early in 2002. This is a good read esp. if you are in Crete. It is an easy day trip from Hania, Crete.
Also, Dancing Girl by Thordis Simonsen; I agree with above: Eurydice Street, a place in Athens by Sofka Zinovieff & Dinner with Persephone. I think I recall the Tom Stone novel & one by James Chatto. Unfortunetely before e-books, I would buy them & leave them in hotel rooms rather than carry them home.

Came across this one ......... Greece : a traveler's literary companion / edited by Artemis Leontis.
Short stories from Greek writers. How good is it to travel with short stories so that the inevitable changes don't lead to losing the plot so easily?

This is an old thread, but it came up in a search so I guess it's still relevant, though many of the books aren't available in Ebooks.

I just discovered Jeffrey Sigers 6 detective mysteries starting with Murder in Mykonos ($.99 in Kindle store). He does a brilliant job of setting, and each of the mysteries is tied to some interesting item of Greek culture or history. His portrayal of Greek culture, attitudes, and contemporary Greece., including refugees, is vivid. Some of the situations seem a bit thin, but, it is a fiction. All books were very enjoyable.